Call for Refugee Led Organizations to Partner with the DREEM Project

Role: Driving the development, operations, and activities of an RLO consortium

centred on disseminating information about higher education

opportunities through the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program and

application support

Location(s): Refugee-led organisations based in Kakuma Refugee Camp and Kalobeyei

Integrated Settlement, Dadaab Refugee Camp, and Nairobi, Kenya

Reports to: Pan African Initiatives Manager, DREEM

Contract term: Eight (8) Months starting 1st of November, 2024

Introduction:

WUSC (World University Service of Canada) is a Canadian non-profit organisation committed to improving the lives of millions of disadvantaged youth worldwide through education, economic opportunities, and empowerment programs.

Through the DREEM project – WUSC serves as the Mastercard Foundation’s partner on the inclusion of refugees and displaced persons (RDP), and supports the foundation and its partners to fulfil their commitment to meaningfully include refugee and displaced young people in the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program. By strengthening relationships between Refugee-led Organizations (RLOs) and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) in refugee contexts and the universities participating in the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, DREEM aims to create sustainable systems that allow RDPs to access higher education opportunities on their own.

WUSC is looking to partner with six local refugee-led organisations, forming three pairs—one pair per geographic location in Kakuma and Kalobeyei, Dadaab, and Nairobi. These pairs will work together to shape the direction and operations of the project and lead important activities, such as sharing information about the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program with refugee and displaced youth and co-creating an outreach model that RLOs can manage in the future. This partnership aims to empower RLOs to design and deliver refugee-led solutions that address the needs of refugees and displaced persons in their communities.

As part of its goal to establish a sustainable refugee-led outreach model, the DREEM project will provide mentorship and coaching, and offer technical assistance and support to RLOs who could continue to support higher education institutions with outreach activities and promote opportunities to the refugee and host communities after the project ends.

Objectives and scope:

The project aims to improve access to higher education for refugees and displaced youth by building a consortium of Refugee-led Organizations (RLOs) and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) who will work with WUSC to promote the higher education opportunities available through the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program to refugees and youth from host communities in Kakuma and Kalobeyei, Dadaab, and Nairobi. The project will focus on strengthening capacity and empowering RLOs to lead efforts that create lasting connections between students and higher education. By leveraging local knowledge and partnerships, the project seeks to create solutions that can be scaled and have a big impact, focusing on outreach, program design, research, and policy influence.

Selected RLOs will take part in activities that strengthen their skills and help develop a long-term plan that ensures lasting results. The goal is to create a service model that can be fully led by RLOs in the future, while building strong networks with universities, schools, and other RLOs to share information, resources, and opportunities without overlapping efforts. Specifically, the project will work towards the following objectives:

1. Increase awareness and access to information about higher education opportunities available to refugees and displaced people in Kenya.
2. Develop and pilot a sustainable and scalable RLO-led outreach model to promote and support RDP youth to access higher education opportunities available to refugees and displaced people in Kenya.
3. Strengthen connections between RDP communities and postsecondary institutions offering Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program opportunities.
4. Build a network of RLOs who collaborateto promote and support candidates to apply for higher education opportunities available to refugees and displaced people.
5. Strengthen the organisational capacity of participating RLOs to serve their communities, access funding, and become more sustainable.

Main Tasks and Responsibilities of RLOs

• Share information and updates about the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program to refugee and host communities, especially targeting marginalised groups like young women, single mothers, and people with disabilities. This will include coordinated announcements, events, and workshops.
• Collaborate with other RLOs and partners to co-create and operate a lasting RLO-led outreach model that promotes and shares information about higher education opportunities, and ensures long-term access to education.
• Recruit and train peer educators to provide higher education and scholarship application support, prepare candidates for interviews, and offer personalised support to students interested in pursuing opportunities offered through the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program.
• Collect, consolidate, and represent the experiences and knowledge of different settlements to help shape the outreach model and its strategy.
• Expand and maintain a network of RLOs across Kenya to encourage collaboration, knowledge sharing, and resource exchange.
• Participate in mentorship and technical support sessions provided by the DREEM project to strengthen organisational capacity (such as sessions on digital skills, financial management, monitoring & evaluation (M&E), and train-the-trainer (TOT) programs etc).
• Contribute to reviewing the monitoring and evaluation plan and help refine project activities based on feedback and progress reports.

Selected RLOs will receive comprehensive support, including:

• Capacity Strengthening and Mentorship: Selected RLOs will have access to training and receive mentorship to enhance their capabilities in improving access to higher education for RDP and host communities. This support will cover areas such as monitoring and evaluation, program and fund development, financial management, accounting, and general NGO management skills. These will assist RLOs to access opportunities and resources, forge strategic partnerships, and collaborate on advocacy and outreach.
• Networking and Resource Exchange: RLOs will benefit from opportunities to grow their internal and external networks. This includes participating in peer-to-peer knowledge exchange, matching opportunities with organisational needs, and accessing technical assistance from diverse experts.
• Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, and Reporting: WUSC will work with RLOs to develop and implement data collection tools for tracking Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) on a monthly and quarterly basis. Mentorship will be provided to assist RLOs in conducting periodic activity monitoring and assessing project progress and results.
• Financial Support: Selected RLOs will receive funding to support their participation in the project and cover associated costs.